https://www.antixforum.com/forums/to...ssian-descent/
https://arstechnica.com/information-...tion-concerns/

More coverage: //www.theregister.com/2024/10/23/linus_torvalds_affirms_expulsion_of/

Original removal patch: //lore.kernel.org/all/2024101835-tiptop-blip-09ed@gregkh/
A couple of responses from Linus:

The general inference seems to be that the US-based Linux Foundation is forcing this, as part of the sanctions imposed due to the invasion of Ukraine.

Whether one sees it as a good or a bad move, it hasn't been handled particularly well.

Also unclear why it has taken two years for this to occur.

This is not good at all. Some people are arguing that these Russians could deliberately introduce back doors or flaws in the kernel. This is dubious to say the least. The same can be said for any maintainer or code contributor to Linux Kernel or Linux in general, irrespective of the nationality of the contributor. What this actually means is that a contributor or maintainer who may support or may not support or does not have a view on the so called special military operation in Ukraine, is being penalized. Further this action will not in any way slow down Russia or deter it.

Politics has been allowed to meddle inside what is a purely technical decision. This is a bad decision and should not have been done. Did anyone think on how this would be perceived and taken?

otoh Russia does have a long history of malware engineering, though they're nothing like as good at it as the North Koreans. Remember that encryption virus that brought our National Health Service to a complete stop? I think that came out of Russia.

That is hardly the point. This is going to make many question the openness and inclusivity of the work done by Linux Foundation. I just went over the email chain mail at lore.kernel.org that was written by Serge Semin, and it is not pretty reading. Including the responses. Where technical discussions should be happening and take primacy, political and legal discussions are being done. Serge Semin claimed that he was contributing to Linux Kernel on his own. Not because of his employer.

Now people are going to wonder on how much should Linux be used if it is going to be subject American laws. Not a good read at all.

I agree that, whether it's necessary or not, it's very sad. The funny thing is that in earlier decades, American parents were sometimes warned that if they found something called "Linux" on their child's computer, it probably meant that the child had been radicalised and was a secret communist, maybe even a terrorist.

In the Paris Olympics, from which Russia was formally banned, some Russian athletes were allowed to compete as individuals. I wonder if something of the kind could be the solution here.

I say hire more North Korean coders.

There have been important clarifications, which serve to emphasize how badly handled and reported this was. My current understanding is:

1) Despite what Linus suggested, the removal by Greg Kroah-Hartman was directly due to US government demands. (I've seen nothing to suggest the governments of other countries were involved.)

2) It wasn't a "removal of Russians", but of individuals working for specific sanctioned companies - individuals who provide evidence they don't work for sanctioned companies can be re-added.

3) The removal was from direct trusted commit access, not from being able to contribute via other means. Huawei employees also cannot commit directly, but can (and do) send in public patches via the mailing list.

//lore.kernel.org/lkml/e7d548a7fc835f9f3c9cb2e5ed97dfdfa164813f.camel@HansenPartnership.com/
//lore.kernel.org/all/7ee74c1b5b589619a13c6318c9fbd0d6ac7c334a.camel@HansenPartnership.com/

There's a thick frozen fog outside, the dogs are dosing off on their pillows, the yankeis melting over uh, oh, Tump is "passe" since last week so I'm bored out of my mind. Even watching curling on tv is too exciting for how bored I am so I logged to this 'thrilling agora of free voices and open minds'(sarc!)...

I read the other day a thread somewhere else that devolved into "We have Rambo"/"We have Kalashnikov" with a singular lonely post of one guy "we need descentralised, delocalised kernel" but at least the thread was some 300 pages long. Those guys at least noticed the significance of linux prooving itself as nothing more than an USA corporation playing a long con...

Now that the conflict is coming to an end, will those linux kernel contributors, be welcomed back?

Will they want to return? Can things go back like they were before?